𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐆𝐈𝐑𝐋 𝐖𝐇𝐎 𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐑

the one with the unknown affair

"There is a poem scratched on the walls of my throat. No one had heard it, but it's still there."

•

DURING LUNCH TIME, two days later, I sat on the porch of the Burrow with Sirius dressed in a loose shirt and a robe, letting my wounds heal, as we overlooked Mr Weasley and Draco tend to the chickens a few feet away, conversing as if they had known each other for years. Mrs Weasley, in her attempts to keep Hermione, Ron and Hermione separated, settled them into various places of the house, engaging them in various chores. The kindest explanation was to distract them from the fact that I almost died, and that I would've died if Draco wasn't there. The real explanation was that she intended to keep them away from each other to not discuss the plan.

"Are you going back to school?" Sirius asked airily, watching Draco with a fond expression.

"I am," I said. "I gave Hermione a detailed explanation on how to get the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff. And after that," I sighed. "Only the snake would remain."

"Do you reckon he's aware that his Horcruxes are getting destroyed?" He looked at me with his dreamy eyes.

"I don't know," I whispered. "In the foretold, it said that he felt them towards the end because Harry, Hermione and Ron destroyed them in very close succession. So he felt the pain. It was like," I paused, looking for the right words, as spring wind blew my hair gently. "It was like a wounded animal, getting hit over and over again. If you hurt something over and over, quickly, it hurts more. It feels more. But. . ."

"But what?" he asked me.

"The Diary was destroyed five years ago. And Draco destroyed the Diadem two years ago. And the Ring was destroyed a few months before the beginning of sixth year. And I destroyed the Locket last year. You see, all the Horcruxes we destroyed so far, were done with gaps between them. So he probably didn't feel it. I believe, he probably wouldn't know all his Horcruxes are destroyed until it's just the snake remaining."

We were quiet for a while. I watched as Draco plucked out the chicken eggs into a bamboo basket, and Mr Weasley cleaned the coup. Draco looked so mundane, so pure it almost shocked me to imagine him in his haughty, pureblood environment, with his suit and walking stick and all.

"And why do you need to go back to school?" Sirius asked. "You're aware that the Death Eaters are looking for you?"

"I am," I said. "I'm also aware that Hogwarts is my home. And it will be threatened. Voldemort is seizing control of the Ministry. He's infecting people's minds with his purist strategies. It's only a matter of time before Hogwarts is threatened."

"If that is the case," he said. "You alone cannot save everyone."

"I won't be alone," I said, basking in the sun. "I have at most of the school on my side. Even the Slytherins."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Sirius smile wistfully at me. People often smiled wistfully at me, but this felt different. It was as if he wasn't smiling at me, rather at something he was reminded of. "What?" I asked.

He jumped slightly, as if coming out of a reverie, and sighed. "You're like your mother. But at the same time you're not."

"How did you know my mother?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"